Note:
some of the language, references & attitudes, while acceptable at the time they
were written, are not Politically Correct, today.

Summary:

No
official summary was ever provided with any of the old Tom Swift books. However,
without giving too much away, the plot can be summed up as follows:

"Mayday!
Mayday!! I am going down!!!" The cry for help over the ether heralds the
beginning of a new adventure for Tom Swift. A boyhood chum, one Jerry Mason, is
on a solo record-setting distance crossing of the Atlantic, a la Charles
Lindbergh, but by a longer route. He is being forced down by a rival flyer, who
is taking a tom-cat's approach to competitors-that is, "kill 'em all." If only
there were a place to land...

Tom
decides that maybe an artificial island airport might have saved the day. He
goes about designing one that can come apart into smaller sections in a
controlled fashion instead of breaking up should a storm threaten it. It is to
be made from a light but strong wood called Talcap. This material is only found
in a certain South American Republic. Unfortunately, Tom finds out that a
Presidente in the palace is NOT worth two in the jungle. A regime change after
the wood is purchased puts the entire project (and Tom & Co.) at risk. It is
said that "an honest politician is one who stays bought." These
boys aren't honest, and they play rough.

How
this ends, you will have to locate a hardcover copy of the book to find out. I
have not been able to locate it on line. Sorry.

Cast of Characters
(More or less in order of appearance)

Tom
Swift-Intrepid inventor & mechanic. Plucky, lively, resourceful, brave and
clever. Home-schooled at a college level by his father, Barton Swift. Athlete
and hunter. Familiar with how to stalk game and firearms. Loves all things
mechanical

Ned Newton-Chum
& companion of Tom. His description is never given. He continues in his position
as Swifts' financial advisor and CFO (Treasurer) of Swift Construction
Company (SCC). In this tale, he repeatedly cautions Tom about a new hire,
one Emil Gurg. Tom, as usual, ignores him.

Koku-Giant manservant of Tom. Devoted, loyal, and possessed of great
strength, but apparently somewhat limited cognitive facilities. Described as
"savage and only half-tame," he is antagonist and rival of Eradicate. In this
episode, he has shrunk, and is only "a veritable giant." He
continues as watchman & guard at SCC .

Eradicate Andrew Jackson Abraham Lincoln Sampson, A.K.A. Rad-Aged
stereotypical Negro manservant. He is now going deaf and is described as "aged,
decrepit, wizened and shuffling." He remains faithful to the Swift family and
helps out where he can. He is a constant rival and antagonist of giant Koku.

Gerald "Jerry" Mason-No description, other than "tall and young." Boyhood
chum of Tom Swift, he resides "out West." An aviator determined to push the
envelope of flight, he plans to fly the Atlantic non-stop in his monoplane the
Sallie Lou.

Mechanical Mike-No name or description. Airport grease-monkey who delivers a
message to Tom.

Mr. Wakefield Damon-Elderly & eccentric adventurer whose main purpose in
life seems to be blessing everybody and everything near his person. Never fully
described, in previous tales he was "portly" with a moustache and
"tortoise-shell glasses." He is quite wealthy and on the board of Waterfield
Bank. While he has an ongoing problem with travel conveyance trouble, in this
tome, he doesn't manage to smash anything. Off the leash and running wild, as
his wife is out of town. She spends a lot of time at her mother's and
considering Mr. D was described as "elderly," she may be providing elder care.

Zebford Lang-No description. Generic bad guy. Unscrupulous and deadly. Rival
of Jerry Mason, he forces Jerry down in mid-ocean, so he can be the first to
cross the Atlantic by way of Portugal/Spain.

Airport Al-No name or description. Brings Tom news of conflict between Jerry
and Zeb.

Emil Gurg, nee Gurganzuoli-Small, neatly dressed engineering
assistant hired by Tom. Darkly tanned, with very white teeth and a "professional
air," he ingratiates himself into the Swift organization. Later found to be a
spy/agent provocateur for the government of Haargoland.

South Gate Sam-Nameless and faceless Swift watchman, who admits Gurg to
SCC after hours. That south entrance seems to be the weak spot in SCC's
perimeter. In the previous episode, Sam was tending his tomato patch instead of
watching the gate.

Dinghy of Disgruntled Diplomats-Planeload of politicians, saved from a water
landing by Tom's conveniently placed airport..

Major
characters not appearing in this story:

Barton "Bart" Swift- Tom's
aged father.

Mrs. Mary Nestor Swift-Radiant
bride of Tom.

Mrs. Baggert-Housekeeper/surrogate
Mother to Tom while he grew up.

Helen Morton-No description.
Love interest of Ned Newton

Garrett Jackson-Swift Construction
Works Manager/Superintendent.

As is
usual lately, many of these characters (especially the ones introduced late in
the story) do not rate any development or even a description. They are brought
forth and discarded after they do their bits to make the story flow. The
(hopefully humorous) alliterative names are my "inventions" to make reading
these reviews a bit more fun.

Major Inventions:

Talcap is a light, strong wood like Balsa,
which only grows in Central/South America. The Floating Airport is
comprised of 36 square segments, constructed from this wood, each 300ft on a
side. They are laid out in a 6x6 grid. This results in a platform 1800ft on each
edge. Each segment has an open grid construction to minimize the effect of wave
action, a submerged weighted keel for stability and wireless-electric powered
electromagnets to hold the segments together. The segments can be detached and
separated during a storm, to minimize damage from waves. And each section has
marker lights so they can be found if separated.

The Soundless Wireless also plays a major
role in the story. This device is constructed in a manner that permits radio
telegraphy without the usual Snap-Crackle-and-Bang of then current technology
radio sets.

Commentary on Society,
Attitudes, Environment & Errata

Reading the
old Tom Swift Sr. series has really given me an appreciation of all the modern
gadgets that I've come to take for granted. It also has given me a grasp of just
how technologically and culturally unsophisticated the average reader was in the
early 1900's.

Attitudes and
Prejudices- Some clews (although that term is no longer used)
that were detected as to the author of this tale: This tale reeks with
the usual string of coincidences that are required to allow the story
line to progress. There is also a lot of repetition to pad the text and raise
the page count. The story also requires significant foreboding,
(bordering on clairvoyance) to prepare for events that make the plot flow. The
author's nautical and engineering knowledge is iffy, and many things are not
described correctly. Language remains mostly modern with a few older British
terms thrown in. The word "Jove" was sworn by three times and "throng" was used
three times. (This is the first recurrence of throng since Episode #5 the
Electric Runabout.)

Language in this tale
is somewhat strange. Grammar is proper with only 1 each misspelling and
malapropisms found. (See below.) A number of "$64" words are used, almost as if
the author spent some time looking for complex ways to say simple things. One
example, is the Koku is said to speak "sententiously." sen…ten…tious, an
adjective, is defined as:

Terse and energetic in expression; pithy.

Abounding in
aphorisms.

Given to
aphoristic utterances.

Abounding in
pompous moralizing.

Given to
pompous moralizing.

This term does not properly describe the language
of a near illiterate giant who traditionally speaks mostly like a Hollywood
Indian, and is generally limited to making statements like "Me break-um in
pieces." Frankly, it sounds more like Our Hero...

The language used definitely points at Harriet
Stratemeyer's touch, but the story line seems 'way too rough for her to have
actually penned it. Tom gets burned, bombed, chased by sharks, captured,
imprisoned and caught in a naval bombardment. About the only traditional hazards
the author didn't pull out of the hat were the chloroform and electrocution.
This is also the first tale where there are mass casualties as a part in the
plot. This, might make me think of this author as "Navy Nick," except that
whoever wrote it was woefully uninformed as to Navy traditions and operating
procedures. I'd hang responsibility for it on Nick, but only tentatively.

Firearms have been utilized in other stories, but
usually for intimidation value during break-ins. No one actually gets shot. This
is the third story that I have read which includes an actual firefight.
It is the first with wholesale injury & fatalities during the climactic naval
battle with the bad guys. (pp, 187-189). Surprisingly, there is also no emphasis
whatsoever on hard times or on finances and money troubles. This is 1934 and the
Great Depression is still gripping the world by the throat. The Austrian
paperhanger running the Reichstag in Berlin doesn't seem to be getting any
press, either.

Fancy hats sell for $5, and now a "government
permit" is needed to make transcontinental or other record setting flight
attempts.

Why Build This
Airport? ń In a word, altruism.
Tom, never was able to turn down the opportunity to rescue someone, anyone...
He wants a "safe haven" for aviators, mid-ocean. Coincidently, a floating US
military presence (aircraft carriers were still a few years away) would be an
added benefit. What this project cost and how the funds expended were recovered
was not chronicled in the story. Apparently Swift Construction,
previously in dire financial distress, has picked up much business again, as Tom
seems willing to give the airport to "Uncle Sam," gratis.

Errata-There
is a running gag throughout this series. Mr. Damon's home keeps flip-flopping
between Waterfield and Waterford, NY. Sometimes it is in neither,
and several times in both places, at once. This is partly due to the enforced
poor communication amongst the many ghostwriters at G&D that contributed to this
series.

There are now 4 distinct categories. In this
tome, Mr. D's homeis not specified.

A few typos and malapropisms reared their
ugly heads for the first time in a long while. Propellors are found early
on and on p27, the sounding wireless (soundless) is referenced.
Ned sends the wrong Morse code at the beginning of the story. He intends to send
"SOS" dot-dot-dot, dash-dash-dash, dot-dot-dot. Instead, he sends "SIS"
dot-dot-dot, dash-dash, dot-dot-dot.

.It has previously been de rigueur
for Tom to "rescue" someone, anyone, at least once per episode. In this
tome, he saves a Navy rating who gets a hand caught in the gears of a
windlass/hoist. That this fellow did not suffer major damage to his limb is
fantastic, and that Tom now has surgical skills and is able to doctor the injury
is even more fantastic. Where is the ship's Corpsman? This is a Navy
vessel and crew. It's woefully understaffed, if you ask me... He also saves a
plane load of diplomats late in the tale. I'm not sure if this was worth the
effort, though. (I have a low opinion of diplomats...)

The Whale (nee Resolute) has a
"purser" on board that Tom goes to see. I think the proper Navy rating would be
either a Chief Petty Officer (CPO), or maybe even a Senior CPO in the
Quartermaster Corps. While decommissioned as a battle platform, the ship is
still under the command of the US Navy. This further demonstrates this author's
lack of knowledge re Things Nautical.

Renaming battleships was not a common
practice, at least in the US Navy. More can be learned about such things at
http://www.friesian.com/dreadnot.htm . Generally, when a name
gets changed, it is for an entire class of ship. Exceptions did
occur, such as in the USS Narwhal (Submarine # 17, later SS-17 in service
from 1909-1922.) It was renamed D-1 in 1911.
Most times, "renaming" is actually reusing of a name, to replace a ship
either lost in battle or one previously retired and being resurrected. Then,
almost always, the name is used on a different class of boat. Renaming a
battleship, no matter how obsolete, from Resolute to Whale sounds
like an insult.

Engineering and
Science, Fact vs. Fantasy-

The Floating
Airport Concept-

Flotation: Talcap sounds a lot like Balsa wood. Balsa is light, strong and grows only
in the tropics. I believe it would have to be treated to stay waterproof for any
length of time, and to make it unpalatable to sea-critters (worms and such.) I'm
sure that sea-dwellers would consider it a tasty snack. No provision was made
for things like runway lights, beacons, hangars, fuel tanks, maintenance/repair
facilities or other amenities. This is just a big old floating dry spot. Any
port in a storm beats drowning, I guess... (Where's that porta-potty???)

Some Assembly
Required: The Floating Airport is comprised of 36 square
segments, each 300ft on a side, and laid out in a 6x6 grid. This gives a
platform 1800ft on each edge. Each segment has an open grid construction to
minimize the effect of wave action, a submerged weighted keel for stability and
wireless-electric powered electromagnets to hold the segments together. The
wireless power system is practical, as demonstrated in the late 1890's by the
inventor Nikolai Tesla, known as the "Father of Alternating Current."

The magnet arrangements that were used to
hold the airport together the airport were not detailed, but for safety's sake,
I'd design the array so it had some rigidity without the magnetic help.
Machinery was notoriously unreliable in those days, and I can envision a
planeload of VIP's in the drink because of an inopportune blown fuse.

The noisy parts of early radio-telegraphy
gear were the spark gap in the transmitter and the coherer in the receiver. How
Tom goes about reducing the noise these components make is left to the
imagination of the reader. The noise generated by the spark gap
during transmittingis created by the arc superheating the air across the
gap. Basically, we are creating lightning and a thunderclap in miniature form.
The coherer, as invented by Branly and refined by Marconi, was
essentially a go-no-go device. In the presence of a magnetic field created by an
incoming signal, its particles "cohered" and lost most of their electrical
resistance so that a battery derived electric current could be directed through
the device and activate a telegraphic sounder. Then the coherence would be
mechanically interrupted (the noisy part-they bang on the tube) while the system
awaits the next pulse of magnetic energy. This was satisfactory for telegraphy
only, and it would not respond to reception of sound-modulated electromagnetic
waves.

An example of the Ducretet "exceptional
precision coherer" is shown, below. Made of Maillechort alloy (copper+nickel+zinc),
it was used principally by the Russian navy. (1904-1905) The tube containing the
conductive filings is orange. Image courtesy of
http://jcverdier.museum.online.fr/

Almost as an aside, if Tom had been willing
to "send" blind, without receiving, he would have reduced his noise output by at
least 50% without any special equipment. Another thought had to do with military
radio discipline. If I were to commit an act of war on the high seas, I'd want
to make darn sure no one sent an SOS by monitoring the airwaves. The
braid-encrusted political appointees in the Haargo Navy apparently didn't figure
out that there might be a third transmitter on board the Whale. Their spy
used his own set. Why could there not be another one in the hands of the good
guys?

Tsunami - An item of engineering balderdash in this story, has to do with an
underwater earthquake creating an EMP type disturbance powerful enough to knock
out major ships' systems. A quick research on Google using Tsunami and EMP
(Electro-Magnetic Pulse) turned up the following web document:

http://www.tifac.org.in/do/pfc/pub/dec04.pdf It is a patent
application for a "Tsunami Detector" that can be used as part of a warning
system. It turns out that tsunamis do generate an EMP, but the magnitude
is measured in nano-teslas, on the order of one ten-thousandth of a
gauss. A typical "bar" magnet has a strength of about 100 gauss or about .001
tesla. A real-life pulse would probably make the ship's compass quiver for about
as long as it was happening. It was said that the actual duration of the 2004/05
Indonesia tsunami earthquake was on the order of eight minutes.

Assuming the damage quoted above, was
actually done, Tom has to work night and day to repair the damage.
Single-handedly? Were there no ratings on board qualified to help? Or, for
that matter, to do the work without Our Hero's expert direction?

If the Germans knew our Naval ships were
such pushovers, (remember, it's 1934) Adolph & Co. would have been barking at
the base of the Statue of Liberty und ve vould all be shpeakingk mit ze
cherman akzent, ja wohl?

Shark Tales-
Tom punches a shark in the nose and drives it off, leaving a bloody trail in the
water. When I first read this, I laughed. Sharks are tough critters and
generally win any argument involving an unarmed human swimmer. The shark's
bloody nose really is balderdash, but the following article leaped off the page
while I was cruising the 'net.

Dad fights off sharks by Michael Madigan
13Dec05

A MELBOURNE
builder punched a shark as he fought off a pack of the predators attacking him
and his 15-year-old son. Glenn Simpson, 44, lost a large chunk out of his right
elbow and received 30 puncture holes in his arm during the desperate struggle...

Seems that we
have to add "light heavyweight contender" to Tom's resume... It's unlikely the
blood in the water was the shark's. Shark hide is rough as sandpaper and is
leather tough. Most likely, Tom skinned his knuckles duking it out with the
ferocious finned forager.

Geography-
Shopton is back to being a "small city in an eastern state."

The Floating Airport is said to
be anchored more or less at the coordinates 45deg N. Lat and 45deg W. Long.
Coincidently, this area is near the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where two
continental plates are separating. Sub-ocean earthquakes are indeed common,
and this would lend credence to the events (but not the EMP) in the story.
The tsunami created by this disturbance should have been felt in both Europe
and the USA.

If Haargoland was a Central/South American
country, their navy was quite brave, venturing into waters populated by both the
British Fleet and German U-Boats.